For The Guys – AECP

Here are the next cards for the Altenew Academy. These 2, as the title says, are for the guys!!

I had a great time creating these 2 cards. My biggest takeaway from this class is using a geometric designs to create a masculine look. This is so true and where the Diamond Builder Stencil comes into play.

Supplies

The First Card

For my first card, I used the diamond builder stencil, but I created a gradient effect. Because this is a slimline card and I have to move the stencil once to finish the first position of the stencil – I though why not change colors for the next half. Now, this isn’t noticeable on this card but I suspect if I change the colors up, using actual different colors instead of different shades, it would look really cool.

As you can see, it’s not a dramatic difference with only using different shades. Next time, different colors.

I used the numbers 4 and 5 from Altenew’s Bold Numerals Die Set and die cut 45 out of the front panel. I created a shaker with the 45.

I had initially die cut 5 balloons in the same shades as the stenciled diamonds, but they looked too washed out, so I used the midnight blue cardstock. I stamped both shadows on the balloons in white, but I didn’t like that either, so I made another 5 balloons but used versamark to stamp one shadow and white Hero Arts Unicorn to stamp the other.

I used the “TH” from a ‘THANKSGIVING’ sentiment from Happy Pomegranates so I could get “45^TH” and “happy” from Happy Bloom Stamp set.

The sequins I used are more of a transparent white-pearl in color, but the colors they reflect on this midnight blue is beautiful. This is something I didn’t anticipate.

The Second Card

I had a little more crafting time to kill and 10 balloons to use up, so I created a second card, but I created it with my next class in mind – Let it Shine. This is why there’s a lot of silver embossing.

I still had my shadow stamps for the balloons on my positioner so I was able to do some heat embossing over the already stamped balloons.

I knew I wanted to use “Smile – It’s Your Birthday”, but the ‘Smile’ in the Birthday Greetings just didn’t look right, so I pulled ‘Smile’ from Happy Bloom stamp set. Much better.

I will note, I stamped my silver dots all over the panel without giving any thought to where this large ‘Smile’ sentiment would go. Thank goodness there was a perfect spot in between the dots.

I’m really proud of these cards, as I’ve always had a hard time with masculine cards. I haven’t made many of them because it is a struggle, but these 2 were smooth sailing.

That’s it for this class y’all. I’ll see you soon at the next one – Let it Shine.

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